Greg R Homel

California, USA

Greg R. Homel is an ornithologist, award-winning international nature photojournalist, documentary film producer and lecturer who operates Natural Encounters Birding-Tours, Inc. and Natural Elements Productions, Inc. from his home within the magnificent Los Padres National Forest, California, USA--home of the California Condor.A birder-naturalist since early childhood, Greg simultaneously founded both companies in 1986 and now travels the world on a full-time basis in search of rare and little-known birds and wildlife, which he then makes accessible to his valued clients through a series of exciting, enjoyable birding excursions worldwide...in addition to a larger audience through his dynamic state-of-the-art digital lecture series, television, and wide variety of publications. At first his work appeared regularly in books and magazines as diverse as Wildbird Magazine, The Audubon Society Field Guides to (both) Eastern and Western Birds, Time, Birder's World, Tucson Lifestyle, and Texas Monthly,
but since the digital revolution, Greg has moved into television production and lecturing aboard expedition ships with the hope of "giving a voice to his truest love, which is the natural world and its inhabitants, especially birds!"For this reason, Greg often supplies archival videos of some of the world's rarest birds, to important conservation organizations, such as the American Bird Conservancy (ABC), Lemur Conservation Foundation (LCF), and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), etc., “so they can speak volumes for their own worth and conservation through the wonder of digital technology!”His recent birding achievements and documentary work includes but is not limited to:* In December, 2006 and January 2007 he became the first person to document in full HD 1080i resolution, the amazing and hitherto unfilmed lekking display of Peru’s remarkable and critically endangered Marvellous Spatuletail...a hummingbird with an impressively long,
racketed tail, known only from the rugged Andean highlands of Amazonas and nearby departments, Peru.*Also in 2007, he’s currently editing together stunning footage obtained during a three year collaborative effort with ANCON (National Association for the Conservation of Nature) Expeditions of Panama, to create a DVD Series featuring the amazing birds of Panama’s Darien Gap Wilderness. The series--which includes a book on the birds of Cana and the Darien Gap Wilderness--is scheduled for completion in 2009.*Concurrently, Greg is pursuing an ambitious dream he’s had since early childhood, when he first opened the pages of Rodger Tory Peterson's classic A Field Guide to Mexican Birds: To become the first person to see and document all 100-115 of Mexico’s extant endemic birds on Standard- and High- Definition Video. He’s close to achieving this goal, having seen all but eleven of Mexico's spectacular endemic birds, with more than 80% of the species filmed in vivid clarity. The first DVD in the series, featuring the results of a now decade-long video project, will be published by Lynx Editions and if all goes as planned, debut in early 2009.*A 2006 film for the Lemur Conservation Foundation (LCF), based in Tampolo, Madagascar, and Myakka City, Florida, promoting their efforts to conserve these endangered primates. After the film’s completion LCF appointed him their official Documentary Producer. “A real honor and a privilege,” says Homel.* The world’s first documentary on the wildlife and culture of the Commander Islands, created in 2004 for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) / Russian Wildlife Authority.*In 2002, after an eleven year effort to find and film the critically rare Short-crested Coquette --arguably the most sought after bird in Mexico--he achieved this goal. And the footage is now being put to good work for its preservation through an upcoming DVD series.*In 2001 Greg joined the staf of Zegrahm Expeditions as one of their primary ornithologists, lecturers and birding guides...
and on his third expedition as lecturer, he participated in a documentary produced by John Stofflet of Seattle’s King 5 Television--an affiliate of National Geographic Productions--featuring Zegrahm Expeditons’ FIRE AND ICE EXCURSION to Alaska’s Aleutian Islands and Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula and adjacent Commander Islands Nature Reserve, aboard the Clipper Odyssey.*Between 1989 and 1995 Greg consistently wrote for and contributed photographs and articles to major birding publications in the United States, including but not limited to WildBird Magazine, Birder’s World, Bird Watcher’s Digest, Arizona Wildlife Views, and more...which lead to his "discovery" by expedition-oriented cruise companies and subsequent transition to guiding aboard expedition vessels, after some of his articles caught the discerning eye of expedition travel companies, starting with Society Expeditons…allowing him to reach some of the earth’s most remote insular birding realms, ranging from Alaska’s Aleutians, to Henderson Island
in the Pitcairn group of islands, New Guinea, and finally Antarctica and beyond.*In October 1994 he played a pivotal role in the rediscovery of the then exceedingly rare (six or less remaining individuals) Poo-uli, during a 16-day National Biological Survey/State Division of Forestry and Wildlife ornithological survey of the primordial forests on the outer windward slopes of Haleakala Volcano, Maui. During that expedition he also caught a brief sighting of the exceedingly rare and now likely extinct Maui Nukupuu. It was the fulfillment of a dream Homel had since first visiting the Hawaiian islands on a family trip as a young teen in 1977.*Throughout much of his life he has been drawn to all things wild, especially birds! Since 1990, Greg has guided, educated, and inspired birding and natural history travelers in over 80 countries throughout the world, and has had the privilege of personally traveling from the arctic to the antarctic and points between, visiting all the continents and countless
island groups, where, with considerable effort, he’s been able to see over 50 percent of the planet's roughly 9,800+ bird species in the wild, videotaping more than 25% of these in the process.His passion for filming birds, both common and exceedingly rare, continues and he’s probably in a remote part of the globe at this very moment following this life-long passon turned vocation...IBC Personal statistics: